The right says “drill.” The left says the United States needs to find alternative sources of energy. But Robbie Diamond, founder and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy, tells Newsmax.TV that it’s not one or the other.

The ultimate solution, Diamond insists, is that we must free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil and the economic instability that comes with it.

“It’s a national security risk, a military and foreign policy risk,” said Diamond, who formed the Energy Security Leadership Councilwith FedEx CEO Fred Smith and retired Marine Gen. P.X. Kelley in 2006. That council is made up of prominent business leaders and retired senior military officers committed to ending the country’s dependence on oil.

Story continues below video.

“Basically, we send troops overseas all the time as the global policemen for oil. We’re in two fighting wars —shooting wars — right now, although they seem to be winding down in some cases. But it’s clearly linked in that part of the world to our oil needs,” Diamond said in the exclusive Newsmax interview.

America’s dependence on foreign oil is a top risk, second only to the danger that weapons of mass destruction pose, he said.

“Right now, it’s really a monopoly on how we drive our cars and trucks. And if the price goes up because of events in the world, the United States has no way to respond and consumers have no way to respond except for cutting back their consumption or paying more at the pump and choosing sometimes between food and fuel.”

Acknowledging that the country must make sure that the “right environmental standards” are in place, he noted, “We absolutely should be drilling for more domestic oil.”

Americans have a misconception about oil, Diamond said.

“There’s really no such thing as ‘foreign oil’ . . . one could think of a giant bathtub, and everyone who produces oil is throwing it into that bathtub . . . and everyone who needs it is taking it out. And then the price is determined by traders.”

President Barack Obama gave indications at the start of his term that he would support allowing oil companies to produce more oil in the United States, Diamond said. But the administration “stepped back” from this after the giant BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico and now is siding with Democrats who want to restrict drilling.

“It’s a classic problem,” Diamond said. “Democrats are for efficiency and alternatives and the government, in some way, solving this problem, where Republicans are ‘drill baby, drill.’ What’s important for the American people to know is it’s really not one or the other: It’s really got to be both and as aggressively as we can do this.”

“We need to drill for as much oil as we can in this country,” Diamond said, adding that the United States “has a great story” when it comes to oil.

“We are producing more oil than we have in many, many years because of the finds of off-type shale and some of the outer-continental shelf production.”

The country needs to work also on transitioning to the “electrification of ground transportation,” he said, noting that electricity is the best way to solve American’s energy problem because of the diversity of fuel sources used to produce it — including coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, and solar.”